Adam McKay Eyeing Simon Pegg and Russell Crowe for “The Boys”

Adam McKay, director of Anchorman, The Other Guys, and Step Brothers, is looking to temporarily separate himself from Will Ferrell in order to tackle the film adaptation of Garth Ennis’ cult comic book hit The Boys. The book tells an ultra-violent tale about a government funded group tasked with keeping an eye on superheroes and taking them down when necessary.

While McKay is busy writing the script for the flick, he spoke to MTV's Splash Page and spilled a couple beans.

"I am actually in the home stretch," McKay says of the screenplay. "I have about two weeks left on this draft and we’re going to try and get it made. It’s looking pretty cool. I’m excited about it."
Regarding the casting of lead character Wee Hughie Green, who Ennis based on Simon Pegg, he says, "Everyone knows Simon Pegg can take Hughie if he wants. I don’t know what his schedule is like, though." The filming of Star Trek 2 obviously may interfere.

Aside from Pegg, McKay is looking at some other big names to fill out the cast: “I really like the idea of Russell Crowe for the Butcher. We met and had kind of an interesting meeting.” The Butcher is a loudmouthed sociopath with a strong appetite for sex, booze, and violence. We’re pretty comfortable in saying that Crowe would fit this part like a blood-soaked glove.

But as McKay finishes up the final script and delivers it to both Crowe and Pegg, he must also concern himself with what studio the film will end up at and what kind of rating restrictions he will face. “You really have to wait until the draft is done to get serious about it, plus it’s like a $100 million, rated-R, anti-superhero movie, so we have to see who bites on it.”

With rated-R comic films like Watchmen disappointing studios at the box office, it will be interesting to see what studio is interested and just how much freedom they will allow McKay with all of the sadistically violent material that is present in the original comics.